KOA

[wa8yxm]

Have visited several KOA.. They do tend to be consistant as far as quality and they can usually accomidate larger rigs.

HOWEVER. They are pricy and there are those who say KOA means KEEP ON ADDING.. What does this mean?

Site: 50.00/night
Oh you have 50 amps, add 5.00
Two Air conditioners add 5.00
Want Wi-Fi, add 5.00
Full hook up, add 5.00

(NOTE: all numbers in the above are fictional, and for demonstration only, real numbers may be lower or higher depending on the item).

[BBQ Judge]

One man's junk is another's treasure. I'm a train nut. Where are the one's within spitting distance of a railroad? I also assume the sites closest to the tracks would be premier sites and cost extra.

As for Keep On Adding, I very rarely run into that as our rig is not that big, only 1 air and 30 amps. Once in a while, Wi-Fi is extra. I don't always want sewer for an over night stop, so when I do, I expect to pay for it. That's why they have dump stations,

Most of the time the sites are reasonably level and firm enough to take a thunderstorm during the night.

Not all the perks show up on the final bill. I have a VIP membership card; several times when we checked in we were given premier sites at no additional charge.

[Gandalara]

Originally Posted by BBQ Judge

One man's junk is another's treasure. I'm a train nut. Where are the one's within spitting distance of a railroad?

You'd LOVE the Seligman (AZ) Route 66 KOA.

[BBQ Judge]

Thanks for the tip. I marked the Seligman KOA in my book for our next trip to the SW.

Amarillo, TX was a good one also. RR tracks on one side, AF base on the other where they were testing the V-22 Osprey.

[CampDaven]

KOAs are CGs that require careful selection just like any other CG.

campgroundreviews.com is my main tool for CG selection. Google Earth is also very useful.

Some folks bash KOA, but I never have had an excuse to do so.

[johnsong3]

Be warned that KOA has a very strict cancellation policy. My wife and I were traveling south when a National Weather Service warning was broadcast for storms and heavy flooding at our destination. We called the KOA where we had our reservation and explained the warnings being broadcast by the National Weather Service and they refused to cancel our reservation. Said to just come on it "should" be ok. I then called KOA national headquarters and they confirmed the policy and wouldn't budge. Said storms and flooding were not reasons for cancellation.
I will never put my wife and family in danger to save a buck. So we opted to continue East and then South to miss storms. I will pay more somewhere else before staying at a KOA now.

[johnsong3]

If I didn't make it clear I did pay the single nights fee.

[OLYLEN]

There are too many good RV resorts to stay in a KOA unless there is no other choice. Out west there are Casino's also and have had excellent parks. Also with Big rigs KOa's are problems, Oh ya no problem, wanna bet. I avoid them as much as possible and will boondock first. JMO

LEN

[BigPapaYams]

We have owned our coach for less than 1 year now. We live on the beautiful Monterey Bay (close to Silicon Valley and south of San Francisco). There is a wonderful KOA about 15 minutes to the south of us so we took 2 of the grandkids there for one night in July 2015. This was AFTER July 4 weekend though the California coast is always in demand.

Cost for one night ( 2 adults, 2 children, 2 dogs) for our 36' coach = $105!! I just sucked it up and paid it because we only had a short time for the kids to be with us.

Later, in Sept. and Oct. 2015 we did a 2-week road trip covering 2900 miles and stayed in a couple of KOAs - one in Idaho and one in Oregon. Far more reasonably priced. I think one was $35 and one was $32 per night.

I can handle prices in the mid-$30 range but they're not going to see us or our rig again in our local KOA campground.

[TomandGloria]

Originally Posted by johnsong3

Be warned that KOA has a very strict cancellation policy. My wife and I were traveling south when a National Weather Service warning was broadcast for storms and heavy flooding at our destination. We called the KOA where we had our reservation and explained the warnings being broadcast by the National Weather Service and they refused to cancel our reservation. Said to just come on it "should" be ok. I then called KOA national headquarters and they confirmed the policy and wouldn't budge. Said storms and flooding were not reasons for cancellation.
I will never put my wife and family in danger to save a buck. So we opted to continue East and then South to miss storms. I will pay more somewhere else before staying at a KOA now.

I've had times when I needed to cancel and they would not refund my money, but happily suggested I change my reservation to another time. I have been successful re-booking as far as a year out with no further costs. We don't stay at a lot of KOAs but will use them as long as they are convenient and clean.

[AbdRahim]

Like everything else there are good ones and some not so good. ?They tend to be in isolated areas, so I don't use them as much. I don't have a toad and prefer to be able to get to a convenient store, grocery store or restaurant on foot. I have seen prices from $35-40/ night to $70/ night and up.

[bluepill]

Originally Posted by BBQ Judge

One man's junk is another's treasure. I'm a train nut. Where are the one's within spitting distance of a railroad? I also assume the sites closest to the tracks would be premier sites and cost extra.

.

Come on down!

https://www.facebook.com/AshevilleEastKOA/

Very busy freight line with a grade crossing directly across the highway. Very pretty facility, but air horns every 20 minutes all night long is a bit much for even this railfan.


Here is some music for your ears.............

https://youtu.be/vkkZP47nxE8

[jfran304]

Originally Posted by johnsong3

Be warned that KOA has a very strict cancellation policy. My wife and I were traveling south when a National Weather Service warning was broadcast for storms and heavy flooding at our destination. We called the KOA where we had our reservation and explained the warnings being broadcast by the National Weather Service and they refused to cancel our reservation. Said to just come on it "should" be ok. I then called KOA national headquarters and they confirmed the policy and wouldn't budge. Said storms and flooding were not reasons for cancellation.
I will never put my wife and family in danger to save a buck. So we opted to continue East and then South to miss storms. I will pay more somewhere else before staying at a KOA now.

We learned not to make advance reservations unless it is to a campground that is in a very popular area and they have something going on to bring in the campers for the time period we will be there. In the 13 years that we have had our coach we have only been turned away from one campground because they were full, even then we were able to find another campground within 30 miles of the one we wanted to stay at.

If you want to save money on campgrounds check out Passport America. We saved enough to more than pay their annual dues the first time we used them.

Passport America The original 50% Discount Camping Club - Passport America Discount Camping Club

Jon

[BBQ Judge]

bluepill,

I've stayed in that KOA.

Loved the air horns. I keep telling my wife I want to mount a set on the RV for the benefit of those idiots who do something stupid in front of me.